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You can read a full report from the final here:
Alejandro Kozak has the last word as he writes in with the scene in Santiago:
“Santiago, and the whole of Chile, has just gone crazy. And tomorrow’s a pubic holiday: the celebration will be long and very well lubricated, all accompanied by the best Latin music – and a lot of very happy dancing chilenos.”
Chile salute their fans, who chant We Are The Champions (the Queen version). Then the players huddle in the middle and sing and scream among themselves. The camera cuts to Biglia weeping, alone and unconsolable.
Messi is sat down on the subs bench, looking stunned. Argentina’s drought continues - it’s now 23 years without a major trophy. When Chile went a man down I thought they were finished, done. But they hung on. They weren’t pretty tonight but they were gritty and showed nerves of steel in the shoot-out. Wow.
CHILE WIN COPA AMERICA! ARGENTINA 0-0 CHILE (2-4 pens)
Silva to win it. Silva SCORES! Firmly to the right of Romero and Chile are champions again!
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 2-3 Chile
Biglia steps up. He looks nervous - but you would too. And Bravo saves to his left!
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 2-3 Chile
Beausejour, he’s been playing for Chile for 12 years. And scores with power and placement.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 2-2 Chile
Aguero is next up. Rolled past Bravo ... just.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 1-2 Chile
Aranguiz scored last year in the final. This time he scores again: Romero is stuck on his line.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 1-1 Chile
Mascherano scores. Same spot as Castillo.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 0-1 Chile
Castillo, the sub scores. A great penalty, firmly struck.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 0-0 Chile
Messi is next AND MISSES. Way worse than Vidal too way over the bar. Seriously over the bar.
Penalty shoot-out: Argentina 0-0 Chile
Chile take first. Vidal is first up AND MISSES. Romero saves low to his left. Not a great penalty.
Argentina were the better team in regulation but it would be tough to say Chile don’t deserve to still be alive after a stirring comeback from 10 men down (with assistance from the ref).
So the match ends as it did last year, with Argentina and Chile unable to break each other down. Chile won last year, we will see how it pans out this time shortly.
End of extra time: Argentina 0-0 Chile - penalties to come
And so the spot-kicks come. The terrible, terrible shoot out.
ET 29 min: Chile slog their way forward for one final attack, what an effort from both teams.
ET 28 min: Plenty of - understandably - sloppy play after nearly 120 minutes of 10 v 10 AFTER a long season of domestic competition.
ET 26 min: Chile can’t get it clear - Argentina look keen to win it without penalties after what happened last season. Kranevitter is the man who ends the pressure with a shot over the bar.
ET 24 min: Messi wins a free-kick in Messi range. 25 yards out and in the middle of the pitch. There’s some low-level grabbing from both teams as they assemble the wall. And then it’s Messi ... he glances twice at goal, steps up and the shot is deflected over for a corner.
ET 22 min: A corner for Argentina and the sub Lamela takes. But fresh legs don’t do much here and Chile head clear.
ET 21 min: Lamela is on for Banega. Always painful at this stage looking at the faces and knowing one of them is likely to be crumpled in agony after missing a penalty shortly.
ET 18 min: After a furious end to the first half of extra-time both teams are out on their feet and play has slowed. Vargas comes off for Castillo.
ET 16 min: Corner for Argentina, their seventh of the evening but they can’t do anything with it. Resting Messi in those early matches looks like a good idea now. “After calming down during the second half, we’ll soon reach the point of the game where Mr Lopes can freely send off another couple of players without unduly ruining the spectacle,” says Graham Parker. “Though by his own standards of this game, surprised that Funes Mori didn’t get a straight red for his studs up tackle early in extra-time.”
ET Half-time: Argentina 0-0 Chile
JR Illinois sums it up: “What do you think the number would be if you added up the blood pressures of all the players currently on the pitch? I’m guessing it would be something in the neighborhood of 120,000,000,000/80,000,000,000.”
ET 14 min: Silva is on for Sanchez, who has clearly played through pain and yet still managed to be one of the best players on the pitch.
ET 12 min: This is a brilliantly thrilling extra time. Neither side - we’re looking at your Croatia and Portugal - is satisfied to sit back and wait for penalties.
ET 10 min: Bravo, who has been superb tonight, pulls off the save of the tournament stretching to tip an Aguero header over the bar. An exceptional save at a crucial time in the game.
ET 9 min: Oh, Vargas nearly breaks the deadlock. The Chilean’s diving header is plucked out of the air by Romero, who does very well to catch it cleanly rather than parry in at the feet of an opponent.
ET 6 min: This game is now a series of injuries. This time it’s Aguero who goes down in the area, appealing for a penalty. But the ref waves play on correctly because at worst he got clipped on his shoulder.
ET 4 min: Kranevitter pushes Vargas over and is VERY angry when he’s called – correctly – for a foul. He’s booked for that little outburst. Next Isla is left sprawling by Funes Mori after a studs up challenge but the Everton defender escapes any sanction.
ET 2 min: Aranguiz limps off after an - accidental - stomp on his foot. We’ll see if he’s back.
ET 1 min: And we’re back for extra time for a match higher on tension than quality. No golden goal here, by the way. 30 minutes and then penalties. Expert scientific observation from Graham Parker at MetLife Stadium: “Looking at the clusters of players resting before half-time, Argentina’s appear to be the more ‘sprawled’.”
Hot takes from Ryan D’Souza: The last time there was a penalty shootout in a final at a major international football tournament on US soil, a South American team won. Just saying.
Full-time Argentina 0-0 Chile
The final whistle goes and both teams fall to the turf, they must be exhausted after both playing the majority of the game one man down.
90 min +1: Argentina mass on the edge of the area but Chile repel the waves of attack.
90 min: Banega decides to have a shot from long-distance as time ticks down - he may as well, none of his team-mates have trubled Bravo too badly but it’s off target. Messi then has one of those runs - one of darting brilliance - that appears scripted to end in the ball busting the net. But he tries too hard to rip the ball past Bravo and his shot screws wide.
87 min: Free-kick for Argentina to the right of the area but it doesn’t make it past the first defender - Vargas in this case – who heads clear.
85 min: Oh, Aguero! Messi once again sucks in defenders as he scampers down the middle and lays off the ball to Aguero, who is clean and free in the area. But his shot takes off towards the night sky and is coming down somewhere along the Hudson as I type.
82 min: Puch is on as a sub now. And Chile are dominating the closing stages, keeping possession and even daring the odd jaunt towards the Argentina area.
79 min: Chile have a shot on target! Vargas scampers free down the right and shoots from an acute angle. Romero saves and Mascherano decides to clear it across the six-yard area - an odd decision but Argentina eventually clear the area completely.
77 min: Sanchez is down after getting a hefty portion of Mercado’s leg to his stomach. The contact looked accidental - even if Mercado’s leg was a little high - and Mercado escapes a booking.
75 min: Aranguiz swings in a Chile corner to no effect. They now have 60% possession and - still - no shots on goal.
74 min: Aguero is given the ball in all kinds of space after Messi sucks in six defenders like a footballing black hole. Interestingly Aguero’s shot also looks like it’s being sucked in by a black hole - albeit it one around 10 million light years above the goal.
Here’s Justin Kavanagh: “It’s about time a Brazilian really showed up at a big tournament! Nothing wrong with Heber Lopes taking out a central midfielder to make more space in the game before blindsiding a hardened defender in such a dismissive manner: It’s what all Brazilians used to do on a football field pre-Dunga!”
71 min: Graham Parker has some kind words for the ref: “From looking as if he’d killed the game in the first half the referee may actually have cured it — albeit by some kind of leech-assisted, medieval bloodletting. The greater space is definitely making for a much more entertaining match.”
69 min: Aranguiz is booked for a foul on Messi - harshly. And Higuain is subbed for Aguero - but when has he ever dramatically altered the course of a major championship in its final moments?
67 min: While the Argentina defence is coping well enough with the Chile attacks - they’re still to register a shot on target - Argentina’s spurts of danger are more and more limited to darts forward by Messi.
65 min: Messi awakes from the nap he’s been having for the last five minutes to skip down the right and win a corner. It’s a good one too, only just missing the head of Funes Mori. Chile counter-attack instantly and they have strength in numbers but the offside flag goes up just as things are about to get interesting. The ref does not book the offside flag - he’s learning.
62 min: Sanchez slides the ball into the box but Mascherano is quickly across to clear the danger. Chile are definitely the more controlled side now.
61 min: Bravo gets a knock from Funes Mori as he claims a corner but looks OK to continue. A good take under pressure from the keeper there.
58 min: Di Maria, who hasn’t appeared fully recovered from injury, is replaced by Kranevitter. Di MAria doesn’t appear to agree with the decision to take him off though and kicks at a water bottle as he runs off. The water bottle is booked for diving.
56 min: Higuain has had the two best chances of the game so far. This time he has time around 10 yards out and swivels and shoots but it doesn’t trouble the goal, the keeper, the bar or the post. “More open field definitely suiting Chile, who were seeing every passing lane closed off in first half,” writes Graham Parker.
53 min: Both sides appear to want to play a cleaner game - for now. Chile are keeping possession fairly easily while not really going anywhere and Argentina refrain from diving in to win the ball back. Then Beausejour loses the ball and a clumsy challenge sees him booked. So much for the ceasefire.
50 min: Chile continue their good work from the end of the first half, Vargas almost getting a shot off in the area after some lovely passing from his team-mates. They are clearly confident after assuming they were going to play out the match with a one-man disadvantage.
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47 min: A little stat flashes up on the screen to remind us that Chile have yet to muster a shot on target - although they finished the first 45 minutes marginally the better side.
46 min: And we’re off: no one is sent off in the first three seconds, which is a big improvement. Dave Rooney writes in to defend the referee. “I believe Rojo was sent off for kicking out at someone while on the ground after his tackle, it’s been shown a couple of times on TV here in Buenos Aires.” Well, that’s one of the cards sorted out: he just to explain the other 38 now.
Half-time emails: “Samuel Oakford is right about the pitch being two small,” says Williams Smith. “When it gets down to 5 v. 5 then we’ll see a game!”
Graham Parker writes: “Well the referee hasn’t sent Messi off yet, so there’s still a chance he won’t be the most influential figure on the pitch, by the time the final whistle goes. Press box update: currently there’s an outbreak of mass giggling disbelief on both sides of the partisan aisles.”
JR in Illinois: “I can’t help but wonder what this game would look like if Carlos Velasco Carballo was refereeing. In case you’re not familiar with his work he was the referee for Croatia v Portugal yesterday. He whistled for 40 fouls but only handed out one yellow card.”
Killer stat time: In Heber Lopes’s four matches leading up to this game he had shown 21 yellows and three red cards. He is nothing if not consistent.
Half time: Argentina 0-0 Chile
Some actual football breaks out amid the violence as Vargas surges into the Argentinian half. Beausejour wins a corner and it’s Chile who have finished the half the better team. You may be surprised to hear that the ref is surrounded by angry players - which is all of them.
45 min +2: A word on the pitch. “I’m at the game,” says Samuel Oakford. “Do you know how small this field is? It seems to be affecting everything. Passes intercepted, no room to make runs. The middle of the field is constantly congested, leading to fouls. Embarrassing to make two teams of this caliber play on an AYSO pitch.”
45 min: So, both teams down to 10 men - and both red cards a little harsh. However, they have evened themselves out and Vidal trots back on to the pitch. The ref may be the most relieved man on the pitch when half-time arrives as he’s close to losing control of the game. Five minutes of added time.
RED CARD! Rojo (42 min)
Vidal goes down after a heavy challenge from Rojo, although the Argentinian appears to get the ball. However, he came in from behind and and the ref shows red. I’d say that was a yellow but a very harsh red. Vidal was injured in the tackle which may have influenced the decision.
42 min: Messi helped Diaz get sent off earlier and there’s some justice as the half winds down. Messi goes down in the area with 0.000000612% of a nudge from a Chile defender. The referee is having none of it though and books Messi. Fifth yellow of the game.
39 min: Free-kicks are the highlight for Chile at the moment, allowing them a pause in the game and a hope of a punt and header into the area. The only problem is that they need to win them in the first place. Their latest set-piece is repelled with ease by Argentina.
37 min: Some breathing room for Chile at last, a free-kick in the Argentina area around 45-yards out. Mascherano clears though and there’s a brief melee afterwards. Mascherano and Vidal are booked for their part in the festivities.
35 min: On a positive note for Chile, they are still even. On a negative note: everything else.
33 min: Di Maria tries to catch Bravo out, but the Chile keeper sprawls to save it. “For all of his brilliance, seeing Messi immediately signal for a card on Diaz suggests he has just as much cynicism/gamesmanship as the rest of us mortals. I know that it’s part of the game, but it just makes me sad,” writes Jim Rogers.
31 min: A Brazilian sending off a Chilean in a controversial manner during a match involving Argentina. What could go wrong? Chile are in a lot of trouble now because Argentina have been picking them apart at will - and that was with 11 men.
RED CARD! Diaz (28 mins)
Just to show he’s human, Messi plays a gloriously overhit pass to Di Maria. And that’s about as good as it gets for Chile because seconds later Diaz turns his back on Messi, who collides with him and the Chilean picks up a second booking. Looked harsh to me, Messi appeared to run into Diaz more than anything.
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25 min: Chile are edging possession 52% to 48% but Argentina have had five shots to their opponents’ zero. Make that six shots - Otamendi’s header glances wide from a Messi free-kick.
23 min: Oh, what a chance for Higuain. He gallops free of the Chile defence but Bravo stands up and that’s enough to put the striker off enough to dab the shot wide. Medel hares back to make sure the ball does go wide but collides with the post as he does so. He should be OK to continue though - his arm took most of the impact.
20 min: Di Maria dances around the edge of the area, and finds some space to shoot but he doesn’t get good contact with his right foot. The ball sails over.
18 min: Some non-injury news: “Keeping a close eye on Alexis Sanchez, who seems to be doing OK after going over on his ankle early on,” says Graham Parker. “Looks like he’s running freely again now, but he’ll need to do a lot of work tonight if Chile’s press is to keep Argentina honest, so if he’s playing through pain at all, he could be pretty weary by the second half. Unwanted headache for Juan Antonio Pizzi.”
17 min: Diaz is booked after being startled by a dashing Messi run and hacking at his opponent. That gives Messi a free-kick around 35-yards out to the right of the goal. He won’t shoot from here, will he? He will! But it’s straight at Bravo.
15 min: This game could be charitably described as physical so far. Funes Mori takes an almighty swing at some unsuspecting Chile ankles but no action is taken. “I cracked the code on Messi’s moves,” says Patrick Sullivan. “His legs are so short. That makes the distance from brain to foot much less a trip, explaining his speed. My wife thinks I’m touched.” Well, it’s certainly ... a theory.
12 min: Vidal attempts an ambitious screwed pass out to the left as Chile surge forwards but it’s too heavy - and it goes out for a throw in. Now Vargas is down injured - not the first injury scare this game, Di Maria and Aranguiz have also looked in trouble tonight.
9 min: Aranguiz has to leave the pitch briefly after receiving a knock but he’s OK to continue. Alejandro Kozak in Santiago writes in with the view from Chile. “It’s safe to say that statistically speaking, over 80% of the country is now glued to a telly…history is in the making, again, another battle against the old enemy. What’s more, tomorrow’s handily a public holiday, so the anticipated victory would mean an even longer pause for mass celebration.”
6 min: Chile have their first taste of Messi and Isla has to put in a good tackle as the Barcelona star squares it to Di Maria. Before Di Maria is clattered and Argentina have a free-kick almost on the corner flag. Chile clear. “Greetings from Texas, where I’m watching the Copa final in Spanish, and reading the MBM in both English and Spanish, and feeling a bit sad Mexico got swatted aside. I’ve no dog in the fight, but since Chile’s flag is almost the same as Texas’, I may pull for them while watching Leo stomp his compact way over their bodies,” says Sam MB.
3 min: Argentina have the first good chance of the game a long ball and a shot that slashes wide of Bravo’s goal. At the other end, Vidal rolls a lovely ball through the Argentina defence but no team-mates area able to get to it and Romero dashes out to gather.
1 min: And we’re off. Argentina in their famous white and sky-blue stripes, Chile in their familiar red. Graham Parker has news on the atmosphere:
“Unlike the issues with actually getting people into the stadium which dogged the last game at MetLife between Peru and Colombia (seems Friday evening is not the best time to try and force 85,000 people through New Jersey’s strained rush hour infrastructure), we’re packed before kick off this time around — bar a few patches of seats in the impossibly rich section.
“And the press box is packed too. There are strict rules about no cheering within our double-glazed-air-conditioned-to-freezing-point box high above the action, but safe too say, I’ll have a fair idea of the demographics of my professional peers within a nanosecond of the game’s first flashpoint.
And the teams are out. A beautiful evening in New Jersey. The Fifa president Sepp Bla Gianni Infantino is here as is the president of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati. The Argentina national anthem belts out first: a disappointing lack of tears from the team. Messi stares up at the heavens, a man ready to do business. Then it’s the turn of the champions: no tears from them either: bah! What happened to metrosexuality?
History is with Argentina in this one: they’ve won the title 14 times, one behind Uruguay’s record of 15. Chile, on the other hand, have just one Copa America to their name - but then again that victory did take last year so let’s call it even.
19 - 19 of the 22 players who started the first game between Argentina and Chile at the #CopaCentenario start in the final. Familiar.
— OptaJack (@OptaJack) June 26, 2016
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And just in case you needed any more reminder that Messi is half-decent at football:
Football before and after Lionel Messi. #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/y7OLEpAAI3
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 26, 2016
Graham Parker is at the game and has the following thoughts on how the action may pan out:
“The group stage match between these two may have spoiled us for the final, in seeming to offer the perfect set of matching styles for a great game.
“If Chile’s pressing game is at its best, Argentina won’t get to enjoy passing it out of the back as much as they did while giving the USA the Harlem Globetrotters treatment in the semi-finals.
“But likewise, Argentina have more than enough nous to keep Chile second-guessing about over-committing men forward — especially with the particular qualities of the men Argentina can leave up front in the event of breaking the first line of Chile’s press.
“But if there’s a nagging doubt about Messi et al it’s the quality of the defense behind them. Argentina have scored a lot of goals and swept all before them, but if defenses win championships, they might be hoping that attack is indeed the best form of defense — Otamendi, Rojo and Funes Mori are all coming off fair to indifferent years with their respective clubs in the North West of England, and are going to give looks to a talented Chilean attack.
“On that note, for neutrals hoping that we see a lot of goals, we should maybe hope that Chile score first — if Argentina have to try and chase the game rather than kill it, we could see a very open game. Here’s hoping.
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How they got here:
Argentina won their group, scoring 10 goal and conceding just one against ... Chile, in the Group D opener, which Argentina won 2-1. The knockout stages didn’t treat them too badly either: they scored eight goals in two games, beating Venezuela 4-1 and the hosts the US 4-0. You may remember the latter game for this little zinger from Messi:
Chile lost their opener against Argentina, and it took a late, late penalty against Bolivia to secure their first win. They kicked on from there though, beating Panama 4-2 before - in the performance of the tournament - shocking the in-form Mexico 7-0 and then seeing off Colombia 2-0 in the semis.
A little reminder of last year’s final between these two sides. Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s match report from that game, which went down to penalties:
Graham Parker is at the MetLife tonight and has sent us the following missive on the atmosphere at the stadium:
Watching the stadium fill up gradually — though judging by the industrial quantities of meat I saw being heated on tailgate grills, we may be a while yet before the last of the gourmands makes their way in from the huge MetLife car parks. Blue and white jerseys spread around the stadium at the moment — Argentina’s fans have shown up in force, expecting revenge for last year, and (finally) a coronation for Messi. But there are plenty of clusters of red too, looking like they’re huddled together for warmth in the stands.
Not that they need to. It’s been a blazing hot afternoon here in New Jersey — and a third of the stadium is still bathed in harsh sunshine. But the field is in shadow now and hopefully will cool down enough for us to get a pacy game tonight. Anything too slow is going to play into Argentina’s hands.
Teams
And your teams are through for the evening. Argentina have gone for their strongest XI available, with Angel Di Maria declared fit to start after overcoming an adductor injury. They also have, shockingly decided to play Lionel Messi:
Chile lineup: Bravo; Beausejour, Medel, Jara, Isla; Vidal, Aranguiz, Diaz; Fuenzalida, Sanchez, Vargas. #CopaAmerica ARGvCHI
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 26, 2016
Tom will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Jonathan Wilson’s preview of the final:
And so, once again, Argentina stand on the brink. For them, Gabriel Batistuta’s two goals against Mexico in the 1993 Copa America final have come to seem an awful long time ago. Since then they’ve won five Under-20 World Cups and two Olympic golds but no senior trophies.
After defeat in a World Cup final and three Copa America finals (and a Confederations Cup final), Argentina are once again one game from ending their trophy drought. Fail to beat Chile in East Rutherford on Sunday night at 8pm ET, Diego Maradona has already said, and this side shouldn’t bother going home.
It wasn’t a helpful comment, nor one with much perspective, but it did capture a mood. It’s not just frustration at the repeated near misses, or the fact that Uruguay in 2011 went past Argentina as the most successful side in Copa America history, that provides a sense of urgency. There hasn’t been an Under-20 World Cup success since 2005.
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